Shalva Papuashvili expressed disappointment over European lawmakers

Shalva Papuashvili, the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, expressed disappointment that European lawmakers were adopting Russian propaganda strategies in response to the draft resolution on Georgia that the European Parliament's Committee had approved.

"Everyone could see how the accepted changes were undermining the balanced resolution," Shalva Papuashvili noted. "Compromises were made to finalize a particular wording. Unfortunately, the committee’s final version featured an unhealthy compromise. The altered text appears to be written in George Orwell’s Newspeak manner, proposing to designate a philanthropist as an oligarch, a person who became an oligarch by stealing from the Georgian army as a media manager, and the founder of the repressive regime, Saakashvili, as a beacon of democracy," he added.

"Newspeak is an inverted reality that we are encouraged to tolerate. We will not accept such deception. Russia is the only country that has created such an inverted reality. It is unfortunate to see European politicians employing Russian propaganda techniques," Speaker Papuashvili stated.

Papuashvili on United National Movement

On November 10, Shalva Papuashvili claimed that the [opposition United] National Movement achieved for itself what it sought for the country: they called for early elections for the government and received early elections inside their party.

"The issue is not a lack of leadership, but a lack of ideals inside the party. The objectives are the same as those of the party that established the authoritarian government. Until the United National Movement modifies its practices, beliefs, and opposition to democracy, it has no place in politics. As long as they reject the core tenets of democratic administration, they will always come up short," Shalva Papuashvili added.

British Ambassador to Georgia urges all political parties in Georgia to cooperate on the 12 recommendations

On November 9, Mark Clayton, the British Ambassador to Georgia, urged all political parties in Georgia to cooperate in carrying out the 12 recommendations of the European Commission.

"The UK does support Georgia's goals to join the EU and, of course, NATO, but as the UK is no longer a member of the European Union, we are not directly engaged in any of the 12 criteria," Clayton noted.

The Ambassador said, "There is a fundamental democratic point behind that: the Georgian people say they want to join the EU and NATO, and every major political party says they also support that membership. In that spirit, our position is that we encourage all the political parties to work together to implement those 12 requirements."

The Attorney General declares a new crackdown on a global fraud scheme

On November 9, following an international investigation supported by Eurojust and involving the relevant agencies of Georgia and seven other countries that established transnational crime in Georgia and three different countries, the General Prosecutor's Office of Georgia announced a new wave of crackdowns on call centers.

The Prosecutor's Office claims that the following arrests and seizures resulted from months of planning with foreign partners, including 60 German law enforcement personnel and as many as 300 Georgian officers. During the raid, five contact centers, several people, their residences, automobiles, and places of employment were searched. Hundreds of electronic data carriers, papers, and a sizeable sum of cash were taken. Additionally, the assets and money that were acquired illegally have been seized.

The Prosecutor's Office claims several crime organizers have been the subject of criminal investigations in other countries. One of the organizers was detained in Georgia. According to the Prosecutor's Office, the criminal group's actions included the creation of businesses in many nations, the fraudulent appropriation of millions of euros from EU members, including German individuals, using contact centers, and the subsequent money laundering.

The Prosecutor's Office stated: "Members of the so-called criminal organization constructed electronic trading platforms under various brand names, which facilitated the placement of fraudulently obtained cash from customers into the bank accounts of bogus firms to operate the contact center."

US doctors assess Saakashvili's health

On November 7, Shalva Khachapuridze, Mikheil Saakashvili's lawyer, said that Saakashvili's health assessments from American doctors varied greatly from those from Georgian doctors.

"Diagnostics show that Saakashvili's condition is so critical that discussing his release from prison rather than delaying his sentence is a possibility," he added.

"Saakashvili did not become ill while he was being held. Saakashvili's condition worsened so quickly, and we need to figure out why," Khachapuridze said.